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Introduction

Emily Howard Stowe. 
née Jennings. Born May 1, 1831, Norwich, Upper Canada (now Ontario). Died April 30,1903, Toronto, Ontario. Emily's mother was a Quaker who   encouraged her six daughters to obtain a good education. Like many young women of her era Emily was a teacher at local schools. She was refused entry to Victoria College, Cobourg, Ontario because she was a woman. She became a life long champion of women’s rights. She attended the Normal School (Teacher's College) for Upper Canada, Toronto graduating in 1854. She worked as principal at a Brantford, Ontario public school becoming the first woman principal of a public school in Upper Canada. She married John Fiuscia Michael Heward Stowe in 1854. Together the couple had three children.  With no Canadian institution allowing women to study medicine she studied at the New York Medical College for women  in the United States and in 1868 became the first Canadian woman to practice medicine in Canada and the second licensed female physician in Canada.  She opened her practice in Toronto. In 1876 she founded the Toronto Literary Club which became the Canadian Women's Suffrage Association in 1883. She gained notoriety when she was accused and acquitted of administering drugs to cause an abortion in 1879. On July 16 1880 she received her medial license from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.  In 1883 a meeting of the Suffrage Association would lead to the creation of the Ontario Medical College for Women.  Her daughter Augusta Stowe Gullen (1857-1943) was the first woman to earn a medical degree in Canada. She was also founder and first president of the Dominion Women’s Enfranchisement Association in 1889. In 1893 she broke her hip at the Columbian Exposition's Women's Congress and she retired from medicine. In 1896 she and Augusta participated in a mock parliament where discussion was centered around the question of  giving men the vote! Public school have been named in her honour, a women's shelter in Toronto is named in her honour and in 2018 she was inducted into the Medical Hall of Fame. image used with permission  Canada Post Corporation(2021)

Julia Arthur
née Ida Lewis. Born May 3,1869, Hamilton, Ontario. Died March 28,1950, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.  She chose her stage name for her acting career from her mother's family name.  As a youth of 11 she played in some amateur theatricals in her home. She had her stage debut at the age of 14 in the United States performing in Shakespearian plays with the Bandmann Traveling Theatre. After three seasons she was off to Berlin to study the violin but soon changed to voice and theatre. In 1895 she went to act in London, England. having secured an engagement at the Lyceum Theatre.  Back in North America after her European tour she accepted a position with a company in California, U.S.A.  and eventually headed to New York City, U.S.A. and toured the eastern coast. In 1889 and 1890 she was back to stages in Canada. After more time in the United States she was back with success appearances in London England  and while with the Lyceum Company she earned an international status. In the summer of 1897 she returned to the U.S. as the star of her own company financed by her brother and the wealthy Bostonian Benjamin Cheney.   She married Benjamin Pearce Cheney on February 23, 1898 and took a few years reprieve from the stage. In 1914 she returned to the stage doing a benefit performance at the Boston Theater for the European Actor's Relief Fund. In 1924 she had a very successful tour of her beloved Canada. As well as her stage appearances she was the star of such movies as Napoleon, The Man of Destiny and Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Clementina Fessenden
née Trenholme. Born May 4, 1843, Kingsley Township, Lower Canada (now Quebec). Died September 14, 1918, Hamilton, Ontario. On January 4, 1865 she married Elisha Joseph Fessenden (died 1896) and together they had four sons. Clementina enjoyed dressing as Queen Victoria and was pleased when people noticed a resemblance to the Queen. She joined the League of the Empire, the Brome County Historical Society in Quebec and the Wentworth Historical Society. After the death of her husband she relocated to Hamilton, Ontario and in the following year, 1897, she began a public campaign for the establishment of an empire day in Canada's schools. May 24, 1898 Empire Day was first observed in Dundas, Ontario. She turned her loyalty for the British Empire into her work as organizing secretary of the Hamilton chapter of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E.) now known as the Fessenden Chapter.   She wrote about this holiday in a pamphlet entitled. Our Union Jack: the genesis of Empire Day in 1898.  She worked to have Dundurn Castle, the mansion of Sir Allan Napier MacNab preserved as a museum and in 1900 she became the cuator. She was a member of the Women's Institute and the National of Women of Canada. During World War 1 she worked on the city's Belgian Relief Committee. It was largely due to her letter campaigns and even direct confrontation that May 24, originally celebrated as EMPIRE DAY, was established as a holiday in Canada. For several years after her death the I O D E held Empire Day services at her grave side at St John's Anglican Church Ancaster, Ontario and in 1928 a commemorative plaque was installed there. Empire Day in now celebrated as the Victoria Day long weekend in Canada. (2021)

Betty Farrally.
née Hey. Born May 5, 1915, Bradford, England. Died April 9, 1989, Kelowna, British Columbia. Betty trained in dance at a studio in Leeds, England. In 1938 she emigrated to Canada with her former dance teacher Gweneth Lloyd. The two women opened the Winnipeg Dace Club in 1939 and changed the name to Winnipeg Ballet in 1941. In 1945 the dance company began to tour and in 1953 they received Royal patronage as the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (R W B). Betty was the Ballet Mistress training and rehearsing the dancers as well as being a principle dancer. When Gweneth Lloyd relocated to Toronto in 1950, Betty remained to work with the R W B. Betty also worked with Gweneth as co-head of the Banff School of the Arts summer dance program for many years. In mid 1950’s she moved with Gweneth to Kelona , British Columbia where they founded a branch of the Canadian Ballet School.  In 1970 she received the Manitoba Centennial Medal celebrating the 100 years of the Provincial history. In 1981 she was inducted into the Order of Canada and in 1984 she received the Dance in Canada Award. Sources: Memorable Manitobans online (accessed April 2014) ; The Canadian Encyclopedia online (accessed April 2014). Book: The Royal Winnipeg Ballet: the first forty years (1979). (2021)

Alice Kinear. 
Born May 6, 1894, Cayuga, Ontario. Died April 25, 1970, She graduated from the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to the Ontario bar, to become a lawyer, in 1920. She practiced law in Port Colborne, Ontario. After the death of her father in 1924 she opened her own practice until 1943, when she was appointed county-court judge for Haldimand County. In 1934 she became the 1st woman in the British Commonwealth to be created a King's Council. In 1935 she became the 1st woman lawyer in Canada to appear before the Supreme Court of Canada.  In the 1940's after two previous failed attempts she was the Liberal Party nominee for her riding but she relinquished her role to a man and she never ran to be a candidate again. In 1943 she became a county-court Judge in Haldimand County, Ontario becoming the 1st woman in Canada appointed a judge by the federal government. In 1947 she was appointed judge of the Juvenile Court the 1st woman in the British Commonwealth appointed as a county court judge.  When she attended the Commonwealth and Empire Law Conference in 1955 she was recognized  as the only woman in the Commonwealth to have been made a county court judge. In 1954,she was appointed to two Royal Commissions: the Royal Commission for the Criminal Law Relating to Sexual Psychopaths and the Royal Commission Relating to the Defence of Insanity.  In 1961 her il health forced her to retire and she returned home to Port Colborne. In 1965 she received a John Howard Society Medal for her services. In 1993 the Canadian Post Office issued a commemorative stamp to honour the achievements of this woman Lawyer. In 1999 her home town of Pot Colborne declared her home an historic town site. (2020)  Stamp image copyright Canada Post  used with permission

Adelaide 'Laddie' Margaret Eleanor Marie Dennis. née Boissoneau. Born May 7, 1920, Winnipeg Manitoba. Died February 22, 2009, Toronto, Ontario. The outgoing young Laddie took courses and performed at the Montreal Repertory Theatre. Moving to Toronto and adopting  her mother’s maiden name she took a fashion model position which lead her to fashion commentary. She  became a writer and on-air-host for the Laura Secord Music Box show, CFRB Radio. She worked with Monty Hall (later a famous U.S. game show host of Let’s Make a Deal) and acted in CBC radio dramas along with doing hundreds of radio commercials. In 1946 Laddie wore dark pancake make-up, brown lipstick and green nail polish to provide the best image on demonstration black and white television sponsored by Eaton’s Department Stores. In 1951 she married novelist, editor, critic, and advocate for the disabled James Burke (1917-2006). Their romance lasted 55 years. She became the first Canadian woman to appear on Canadian TV, September 8, 1952.  Laddie was named Liberty Magazine’s 1955 TV Demonstrator of the Year. After a brush with cancer, Laddie found a job with regular hours from 1970-1985 as Director, Public Relations Scarborough Public Libraries. On vacation she travelled to Morocco and  upon return she sold her travel story. Thus began a journalistic career that would cover 80 countries. She was presented with the first Lifetime Achievement Award , 2001 by the Travel Media Association of Canada. Sources: Northern Stars (accessed March 2009): Canadian Broadcast Museum Foundation, (accessed March 2009); Personal knowledge. (2021)

Barbara Howard.
Born May 8, 1920, Vancouver, British Columbia. Died January 26, 2017, Vancouver, British Columbia. Even during her days attending public school Barbara was a fast runner. While attending high school she was recognized for her prowess on the track. In 1937 she was chosen to represent Canada after she beat the British Empire record for the 100 yard spring at the Western Canadian British Empire Game trials with a time of 11.2 seconds. At the British Empire Games in 1938 in Sydney, Australia she was nervous and came only 6th in the 100 yard event. However, she won a silver medal in the 440 yard event and a bronze medal in the 660 yard relay. She was the 1st Black Canadian to compete internationally. There were no Olympic Games in 1940 and 1944 when the second world war took world attention. She went on to attend Normal School (teacher’s college) earning a Bachelor of Education from the University or British Columbia. In 1941 she became the 1st visible minority person hired by the Vancouver School Board. She taught for 43 years retiring in 1984. She was inducted into the British Columbia Sport Hall of Fame in 2012. (2021)

Henrietta 'Hettie' Letitia Tuzo Wilson.
née Tuzo. Born May 6, 1873, Victoria, British Columbia . Died January 11, 1955.Ottawa, Ontario   A founding member of the Alpine Club of Canada she had a real passion for climbing. In 1906 she was the first  woman to ascend Peak seven of the Valley of the Ten Peaks near Moraine Lake and bordering the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta.  In 1907 Peak Seven was renamed Mount Tuzo in her honour. She stopped climbing in 1907 when she was 34 years old. She moved to Ottawa, Ontario  with her husband, John Amistead Wilson, a well established Scottish engineer, to raise their family. In 1928 she was elected president of the National Council of Women, still climbing the mountains set up in front of women by society. She was also an active volunteer with the Red Cross The Ottawa Women's Canadian Club. and a proponent of the League of Nations. She also found time to write for the Canadian Geographical Journal. She was presented with the King's Jubilee Medal in 1935 and in 1937 the King's Coronation Medal. John Tuzo Wilson, her son became a well known Canadian geologist in the area of continental drift and plat tectonics. Sources: "Mrs. Wilson Familiar Figure" by Madge Macbeth, Ottawa Citizen August 17, 1957. ; Off the Beaten Track; women adventurers and mountaineers in western Canada by Cyndi Smith. Coyote Books, 1998.

Reva Brooks.
Born May 10, 1913, Toronto, Ontario. Died January 24, 2004, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.. She had a short working career as a secretary before she met and married a young artist Leonard Brooks in 1936. During World War ll, Leonard was an official artist with the Canadian Navy. In 1947 the couple used a veteran Affairs grant to travel to Mexico for a year to focus on Leonard’s painting. For the next 50 years, Mexico would remain their base of operations where they played a pinnacle role in establishing a world renounced artist colony at San Miguel de Allenade. At 34 years of age Reva picked up a camera and with a natural eye began taking photos of the people and the countryside in Mexico. Her works achieved critical acclaim in the U.S. and Europe. The photographs have appeared in shows and galleries around the world. Canada was always a part of their soul and the couple served as unique cultural ambassadors for both counties. In 1992 the formed, at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, The Leonard and Reva Brooks foundation to house records of their lives and works. It also promotes the arts in Canada and funds scholarships for Mexican students to study music. Source suggested: Leonard and Riva Brooks: a biography of Canadian artists in exile. By John Virtu, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2001. (2021)

Sheila Philip Cochrane Branford.  
Born May 11,1918, Scotland. Died April 20 1984, Bucklers Hard, Hampshire, England. Sheila attended schools in Scotland, France, and Germany. In 1941 she married Dr. David Burnford and the couple had three children and three beloved family pets that inspired Sheila to write books. In 1951 the family emigrated to live in Port Arthur (Now Thunder Bay), Ontario.  As an author she is perhaps best known for her novel about animals called the Incredible Journey. The book won the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year Award and the American Library Association Aurianne Award  in 1963. Although Sheila wrote the book for adults it was marketed for children. The book became an immediate international best seller when  it became a Walt Disney movie. It is a great story about 3 friends, a bull terrier, a golden Labrador and a Siamese cat who travel over 300 km through northern Ontario wilderness to return home.  It was remade in 1993 as Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. She also wrote about her summers in Nunavut on Baffin Island in the book, One Woman's Arctic published in 1973. (2019)

Anne Ottenbrite-Muylaert  
Born May 12, 1966, Bowmanville, Ontario. Anne began swimming when she was just three years old. In 1982 at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia, she won gold medals in the 200 Metre and 4 X 100 Metre medley relay followed with a silver in the 100 metre breaststroke. The following year at the Pan-American Games she won a gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke and a silver in the 4 X 100 relay race.In 1982 and again in 1983 Anne was named Female Swimmer of the Year by Swim Canada. Anne was the first Canadian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming. She won the medal in the 1984 Olympic Games, Los Angeles, U.S.A. in the 200 metre breaststroke event. At the same games she won sliver in the 100 metre breaststroke and played a key role in the 400 metre-medley relay team with Reema Abdo, Michelle MacPherson and Pamela Rai, that won bronze. In 1984 she was inducted as a Member to the Order of Canada and in 1985 she became a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame. In 1986 she retired from competition and in 1992 she was inducted into the Canadian Aquatic Hall of Fame followed in 1999 with a membership in the International Swim Hall of Fame. Anne earned her Bachelor Degree from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. While at U S C she swam for the Trojan Swim team and diving team. She then earned her Master's Degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario in 1990. In 1991 she promoted the National Coaching Certification Program in Zimbabwe and at the 1994 Commonwealth Games she was named Honorary Team Captain and the following year she was appointed Team Manager for the Pan-Pacific Games in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.  1999-2001 Anne was an Assistant Coach with the University of Wisconsin, U.S.A. In 2002 she relocated to Ontario where she has been a Pickering Swim Club coach becoming Head Coach in 2011. Anne is married and mother to a son. A swimming pool in Whitby, Ontario is named in her honor. (2019)

Patricia Beatty. 
Born  May 13, 1936, Toronto, Ontario. Died November 20, 2020, Toronto, Ontario. Born in Canada, her early dance training was in the United States at the Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont, U.S.A. graduating in 1959. She also attended the Martha Graham School in New York City, U.S.A. She worked at both the Connecticut College and then Juilliard School, New York City, from 1960-1965. She soon brought her talents back to Canada and founded the New Dance Group of Canada in 1966 and in 1968 the Toronto Dance Theatre. She retired in the early 1990's but continued to give occasional performances. In 2004 she was inducted as a member of the Order of Canada and in 2019 she was inducted into the Encore! Dance Hall of Fame.  (2022)

Marie-Josephite Corriveau. 
Born 1733, Saint-Vallier, Quebec. Died on the gallows April 18(?) 1763. She has become simply known as La Corriveau.  After two trials she was condemned to death for murdering her second husband Louis Dodier in January 1763. She was, as the law provided, hung and her body exposed in chains. Her body was exposed for about a month in an iron cage, The cage would be found in a graveyard in 1850. Writings over the years drew on the story as a base.  These stories never quite separated facts and fiction. Legends grew and are still recounted as fantastic tales. 

Julia Levy.  
née Coppens. Born May 15, 1934, Singapore. Julia's father sent the family to Vancouver, British Columbia in 1940 where he joined them after being released from a Japanese prisoner of war camp at the end of World War ll. Julia enjoyed mathematics in high schools and was inspired by her grade 11 biology teacher. Julia studied immunology and bacteriology earning a Bachelor Degree in 1955 at the University of British Columbia. By 1958 she had earned her doctorate (PhD) in experimental pathology from the University of London in England. Returning to British Columbia she took a position as an assistant professor and worked her way to become a full professor at the University of British Columbia. In 1980 she was elected a Fellow in the Royal Society of Canada.  Together with some university colleagues, she founded her own drug company, Quadra Logic Technologies (Q L T), dealing with photodynamic therapy (P T D) which was used for treating cancer. It was also the 1st medical treatment of one of the leading causes of blindness, age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In 1993 the P T D drug Photofrin became a recognized treatment for bladder cancer. Julia served as Chief Scientific Officer for Q L T and from 1995 through 2001 she served as Chief Executive Officer and President. Recognized for her contributions to cancer treatments she is also investigating treatment of diseases such as arthritis, psoriasis ( a skin disease) and multiple sclerosis. In 2000 she was named Pacific Canada Entrepreneur of the Year and the following year she became an Officer in the Order of Canada. She has also received the Future of Vision Award from the Foundation Fighting Blindness, the Helen Keller Award for Contributions to Vision and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Columbia Biotechnology Association. The Chemical Institute of Canada presents the Julia Levy Award for successful commercialization of innovation in the field of biomedical science and engineering.  Julia is married to Edwin Levy and is proud of her two children and she is also very proud to have two grandchildren.

Lucy Slade    Kayaker & Canoeist
Born May 16, 1972, Ottawa, Ontario. Died January 14, 2011, Whistler, British Columbia. Growing up in Ottawa, Lucy spent many summers at the Rideau Canoe Club doing what she loved most, sprint racing canoes and kayaks. She would go on to win four gold, three silver and eight bronze medals at Canadian championships from 1987 through 1996. She also held four gold medals at the 1989 Canada Summer Games in Saskatoon. She would wear the championship purple jersey of the R C C for ten years.  In 1991 she was a member of the four – woman kayak silver medal team at the American Games in Cuba. She retired from the sport in 1996 and kept in shape by biking, skiing  running. She took a coaching position with the Cascade Canoe Club moving to Chelsea, Quebec. In the late 1990’s she completed university and she and her partner Andy Ball became parents to twins. In 2013 the Lucy Slade Memorial Trophy was established by family and friends to be presented for  the U19 Women K-1, 1000m event. In 2019 it was transferred to the U 18 Women K1. In Canoe Kayak Canada. .Source: Paddler remembered for her zest for life by Carole Hardy-Kavanaugh and Mike Scott Globe and Mail February 26, 2012. Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario. (2021)

Anna Brownell Jameson.
née Murphy. Born May 17, 1794, Dublin, Ireland. Died March 17, 1860. At four years of age her family migrated to England and settled in London. At 16 she was working as a governess and in 1821 she became engaged to lawyer Robert Jameson. However, the engagement was broken off and Anna went to Italy as a companion to a young student. She wrote a book hoping to earn enough money to purchase a guitar. The book was well received but the Diary of an Ennuyee, published in 1826, became somewhat scandalous when her identity was discovered. She later decided to marry Robert Jameson but in 1829 she left for a position in Dominica and never sent for her to be with him. That year she wrote the Loves of the Poets. In 1832 she published Characteristics of a woman which analyzed heroines of Shakespeare.  Her Husband summoned her to Canada in 1836 who now resided in Upper Canada (now Ontario). After landing in New York, U.S.A. she had to find her won way to Toronto in the middle of winter. She penned a travelogue of her journey, Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada published in 1838. She also traveled into Indian settlements while in Canada and explored the settlements along Lake Huron.  A well known author by the time she came to Canada to join her husband she chronicled her 8 month stay in her book “Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada”  published in 1838. She returned to England in 1838 where she continued to be a successful writer and researcher. (2019)

Joanna Elizabeth Miller.
née Green. Born May 18, 1926, Vancouver, British Columbia. Died March 21, 2012, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Graduating from the University of British Columbia in 1948, she met and married Leonard Miller in June 25, 1949. The couple had of four children with Joanna a stay at home mom. The family moved to Saskatchewan in 1961 and Joanna had a babysitter one day a week which allowed her time for her active interest in international issues. She helped with UNICEF card sales and began to serve on the national boards of UNICEF and the United Nations. By the end of the 1970’s she was national president of the United Nations Association. In 1983 she was named Saskatoon Woman of the Year for Community Service. While working with the Project Ploughshares she was named to the Canadian Institute for Peace and Security by the Government of Canada as well as being special advisor on disarmament to the Canadian Delegation to the United Nations. 1985 she received the Muriel Duckworth Award from the Canadian Advancement of Women Organization. In 1994 she receive a Peace Plaque from the Canadian Research and Education Association. In 2002 she worked for the Saskatoon first Peace Conference as a member of the Saskatoon Peace Coalition. In 2001 she was presented the Global Citizens Award form the Saskatchewan Council for International Co-operation. In 2006 she was presented with the YMCA Peace Medal. In 2013 Project Ploughshares Saskatoon and Joanna's family funded a grant in her memory focusing local, national or international peace issues. Sources: Canadian Who’s Who (University of Toronto, 2005) ; Herstory: an Exhibition. Women’s Issues. University of Saskatchewan (accessed October 2011) (2021)

Susan 'Sue' Holloway. 
Born May 19, 1955, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Sue grew up in Ottawa, and represented Ontario at the Canada Winter Games in 1971 in skiing and joined both national teams for skiing and paddling in 1973. In 1975, Sue was the Canadian champion in skiing in the 5km classic and kayaking in the K1-500 and 6000 metres, K2-500 metres, and K4-500 metres. Sue was a four time Olympian competing in 1976 in Cross Country Skiing and Kayak, 1980 and Kayak again in 1984 where she took Silver and Bronze medals. Sue was the 1st woman and 1st Canadian to compete in both Summer and Winter Olympic Games in the same years, in the 1976 Winter Olympics and cross-country skiing and 1976 Summer Olympic in Canoe sprint. In 1979, Sue was the first woman to compete in the challenging all-male Molokai Hoe Race in Hawaii, finishing third. Although Canada withdrew from the Moscow Olympics in 1980 she was the appointed Olympic flag bearer. In 1986 she was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame. Sue earned a degree in physical education from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.   She married former Olympian Greg Joy in 2002. Sue is an event planner, world champion dragon boat competitor and devotes countless hours to coaching cross country skiing to teach and motivate the next generation of athletes.(2021)

Eliza Ritchie. 
Born May 20, 1856, Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Died September 5, 1935. In 1982, a year after women were allowed to attend Dalhousie University in Halifax Eliza began her undergraduate studies. She studied for three years in the general program which did not provide a degree. She switched in 1886 for a fourth year to obtain a Bachelor of Letters with first-class honours. By 1889 she had completed a doctorate (PhD) at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A. An educator, feminist and author in 1889 Eliza received her Ph.D. from Cornell University in the United States. She is probably the 1st Canadian woman to have received a doctor of letters. She remained in the United States teaching for near a decade. She then continued her studies in Leipzig, Germany and at Oxford University in England. She wrote numerous articles for learned journals and even published book reviews on philosophical tests that were written in Italian, German and French. She volunteered at the Victoria School of Art and Design in Halifax and in 1917 she became a member of the Board of Directors of the school. In 1908 she was a founder member of the Nova Scotia Museum of Fine Arts and in the late 1920's served as Vice-President.  She was also a strong supporter of libraries and especially children's departments in libraries. She was also suffragette and an active member of the local Local Council of Women and the National Council of Women. She served as President of the Nova Scotia Suffrage league which was also known a the Nova Scotia Equal Franchie League. In 1911 she became President of the Dalhousie Alumnae Association where she worked to establish the university's 1st womens residence, Forest Hall where she served warden in 1912/1913.  Her appointment to the Dalhousie University Board of Governors in 1919 is also a 1st for Canadian women. She served two three year terms on the Board. She was a member of the founding editorial board for the Dalhousie Review in 1921. Eliza was the first woman to receive an honorary degree from Dalhousie. As part of the celebrations marking 100 years since the graduation of the first woman from Dalhousie University (Halifax) in 1985, the Eliza Ritchie Doctoral Scholarship for Women was established, and it was fittingly awarded for the first time in 1987, the centenary of Eliza Ritchie’s graduation and the 60th anniversary of her honorary degree. In the same year, a small university residence named for her was opened. 

Francis Marion Beynon.
Born May 21, 1884, Streetsville, Ontario. Died October 5, 1951, Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1879 her family relocated to farm in Manitoba. She earned her teacher's certificate and taught near Carman, Manitoba. In 1909 she and her sister, Lilian Beynon Thomas (1871-1961), moved to Winnipeg where she worked for the T. Eaton Company. From 1912 for five years she was the editor of the women's page of the Grain Growers Guide, an influential Prairie magazine. Using the pen name 'Dixie Patton' she also wrote for the children's pages.  A journalist, feminist, and social reformer she was a determined individual who wrote of votes for women, marriage and family structure. She was a pacifist and resigned her position at the Grain Growers Guide over views on World War I. She and her sister helped to found the Quill Club and the Winnipeg Branch of the Canadian Womens Press Club that had been founded in 1904. She stood up for women's suffrage and was one of the organizers of the Manitoba Political Equality League. She felt that women should stand on their own feet and that both husband and wife should share responsibility for success. In 1917 she moved to New York City, U.S.A. In 1919 she published a semi-autobiographical novel, Aleta Day. In New York she and her sister worked at the Seamen's Church Institute, an Episcopalian Mission for sailors.  1922-1925 she was the editor of the mission's publication The Lookout. She used the pen name Ginty Beynon over the next 25 years writing as a freelance journalist. She returned to Canada in 1951 just shortly before her death.

Clara Eileen McCandless Thomas.  
née McCandless. Born May 22, 1919, Strathroy, Ontario. Died September 26, 2013, Strathroy, Ontario.  As a young student Clara worked as a cleaning maid and babysitter in order to pay her way as a student at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario. In 1941 she married Morley Thomas and the couple had two sons.  When her husband was stationed in Dauphin Manitoba during World War ll (1939-1945) she taught university level courses to Canadian service men in the area. From 1943 through 1944 she worked at Western's main library and worked on obtaining her Master's degree. She also taught extension courses to teachers across Ontario. After the war the couple settled in Toronto. In 1957 she returned to her studies earning a Doctorate (PhD from the University of Toronto in 1962. Clara would publish as her first book her University of Western Ontario masters thesis,  Canadian Novelists 1920-1945.  In the fall of 1961 she became part of the staff of the English Department at York University where she continued until her retirement in 1984. While teaching she worked on several critical studies and biographical books of Canadian writers. She is a member of the Royal Society of Canada and in 1989 she was awarded with the Northern Telecom Canadian Studies International Award for distinguished Service. Clara had worked closely with the York University Archives and Special Collection and in 2005 the university renamed the archives in her honour. She would have an office in the archives until 2007 and continued to publish several books after her retirement including her memoirs: Chapters in a Lucky Life published in 1999. Source: Clara Eileen McCandless Thomas (1919-2013). York University. online (accessed 2024)

Elsie May Gibbons.
née Thacker. Born May 23, 1903, Ottawa, Ontario. Died January 28, 2003, Shawville, Quebec. On October 25, 1920 Elsie married George Gibbons and the couple had one son. Elsie wrote for local Ontario newspapers including the Pembroke Observer and the Renfrew Mercury. To help family finances she did sowing and worked as a cook or a maid. Their uninsured hose was burned down and Elsie worked on the Hiram Robinson steamship as a cook for eleven men. She and her husband opened a small grocery store in Portage-du-Fort in 1930. The business picked up from 1948 through 1953 when a local Ontario hydro generating station was being built. The couple even built a restaurant to accommodate the needs of the 1200 workers. With no bank in the area she charged 25 cents to cash work cheques. Elsie became mayor of Portage-du-fort in May of 1953 becoming the first woman to be elected mayor of a municipality in Quebec. In 1956 she sold the family store in 1956.She served as warden of Pontiac County from 1959 through 1961. She was also an organist for her Anglican church and served on the Order of the Eastern Star, the Rebekahs and the Western Quebec Economic Council. In February 1967 she became the first woman delegated to the Ottawa General Anglican Synod. She was a director for a local home for the aged and was a member of the Perpetual Care Committee for the Protestant Community. She lost the mayoral election in 1971 by seven votes. By 1973 she was an elected councilor and returned to being Mayor from 1975-1977. The Fédération Québecoise des Municipalités in 2017 the Elsie Gibbons Award recognizing women's work in municipal politics. The Archives of Shawville Quebec holds to albums about her municipal career. (2022)

Frances Anne Stewart. 
née Browne Born May 24, 1794, Dublin, Ireland. Died October 24, 1872. She married Thomas Alexander Stewart on December 16, 1816. When Thomas lost his job with a bankrupt company the young couple decided to emigrate to Canada with other family members. They left Ireland on June 1, 1822 spending seven weeks aboard ship for the crossing to Canada! A true pioneer  to Upper Canada, she was a diarist and letter writer.  Her letters to home have left us with a rich insight into early Canadian life of such of her friends as the Strickland family. Her family published her writings after her death. Many of her personal writings are stored in the Archives at Trent University , Peterborough, Ontario.

Phyllis Fay Gotlieb.  Born May 25, 1926, Toronto, Ontario. Died July 14, 2009 Toronto, Ontario. Phyllis attended Victoria College for her Bachelor of Arts in 1948 and she earned her Master's Degree in 1950 from University College, University of Toronto. (U of T). She married computer scientist Calvin 'Kelly' Gotlieb (1921-2016). Phyllis was a prolific author including six volumes of poetry, five verse plays, several science fiction stories, and 13 full novels in the 1960's,1970’s and 1980’s. Her 1982 novel, A Judgment of Dragons, won the Prix Aurora Award for best novel in Science Fiction and Fantasy. In 2001 the new Starburst Award, given annually for speculative fiction was named in honor of her first book, Sunburst, published in 1964.  Source: Jewish women’s Archive. Personal information for Phyllis Gotlieb  (accessed June 2013) ; The Canadian Encyclopedia online (accessed March 2013)

Muriel McQueen Fergusson. 
Born May 26, 1899, Shédiac, New Brunswick. Died April 11, 1997, Fredericton, New Brunswick. Muriel graduated from Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, in 1921. She became the fourth woman admitted to the Bar in New Brunswick. She married fellow lawyer Aubrey S. Fergusson and the couple settled In Grand Falls, New Brunswick. where she opened the Malabeam Tea Room and became involved in local groups such as founding the Grand Falls Literary Club.  In 1936 she became readmitted to the bar  to support her husband's law business when he was ill.  After the death of her husband in 1942 Muriel took over his law practice. She became the first woman probate-court judge in New Brunswick. As well she became clerk of the county court and the circuit court and the town solicitor for Grand Falls. In 1946 she worked to allow women the right to vote in municipal elections. She was an advocate for equal employment and lobbied the city of Fredericton to extend a $100.00 a year pay raise for make employees to include women. In 1950 she became the City of Fredericton first female councilor. In 1953 she became the first deputy mayor. That same year she was appointed to the Canadian Senate where she championed women in politics.  This Senator championed women in politics. She worked to have women recognized as possible appointees to government positions. She was one of the early women senators and is credited with pushing the government to revise the Criminal Code so women could sit on juries in criminal cases. Women could now plead rape charges with women on the jury! in 1972 she was the first woman to be appointed as Speaker in the Senate. Her home province is home to a Family Violence Research Centre named in her honour. Source: Canadian Encyclopedia. online :Meet Muriel McQueen Fergusson, The Senate speaker who 'blazed a trail through established conventions'. Senate. online (accessed 2024)

Francess Georgina Halpenny. 
Born May 27, 1919, Ottawa, Ontario. Died December 25, 2017, Ottawa, Ontario. In 1941 Francess earned her Master's degree in English language from the University of Toronto. With the war storming over Europe she decided not to continue her education as she would have liked  and signed up with the Royal Canadian Air Force. After the War she became  known for her energetic and courageous editor working as head of the editorial department at the University of Toronto Press from 1957-1969.  She was general editor to the mammoth project of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and at the same time Dean of the Faculty of Library Science, University of Toronto from 1972-1978.   She was awarded the Molson Prize in 1983 and inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1979 and promoted to a companion of the Order of Canada in 1983 while she was serving as President of the Royal Society of Canada. . She received the University of Toronto Faculty Award in 1985 and the University of British Columbia Medal for Canadian Biography in 1986. She was presented with the Governor General's Commemorative Medal for the 125th anniversary of Confederation in 1992. She has also received 11 honorary degrees from various Canadian universities including the University of Guelph in 1969 when this librarian and web page writer remembers her speaking at her graduation ceremony. In 2013 she decided to enter the Sunnybrook Veterans Wing for long term care in Toronto.

Annette (1934-  ) , Emilie (1934-1954), Yvonne (1934-2001), Cécile (1934-   ), and Marie (1934-1970) Dionne 
 All share the same birthday, May 28, 1934, Corbeil, Ontario. Born premature, they were the only known-surviving quintuplets in the world at the time of their birth. They were born to a French Canadian family that already included five children. Three additional children would be born after the quintuplets. While they were young they were wards of the provincial government of Ontario with the Dionne Quintuplets’ Guardianship Act of 1935. Their life in their nursery had special viewing areas for the public who flocked to see these little miracles. Most of their youth saw them exploited. The Madame Alexander Doll Company even offered dolls that resembled the quintuplets. They were even taken to Hollywood where they would do commercials for products and appeared in three movies The girls also appeared in newsreels and a short documentary film called Five Times Five in 1939.Although a trust fund had been established and companies paid for right of photographs etc, the Ontario government used the fund to pay research, accommodation and travel expenses for photographers and filmmakers.  The fund became more depleted on houses, child support and divorce settlements. Emilie became a nun and three of the sisters married and had children but all the marriages ended in divorce. In 1965 the remaining four sisters published their story in the book We Were Five. In 1998 the three surviving sisters, Cecile, Annette, and Yvonne took part in an hour long documentary called Full Circle: The untold Story of the Dionne Quintuplets. That same year the Ontario Government paid the remaining sisters four million in compensation for being taken away from their parents and displayed at tourist attractions. The remaining two sisters live together, out of the limelight in Montreal.                                                                            

Esther Marjorie Hill.  
Born May 29,1895, Guelph, Ontario. Died January 7,1985, Victoria, British Columbia. Esther earned her BA at the University of Alberta in 1916.  In 1920 this Canadian architect was the 1st woman to enter into and graduate from this profession. This was the era of women's suffrage and it was a tough time for women in male dominated professions. She encountered considerable discrimination both during her studies and while attempting to work as a professional architect. She had problems finding a job and her application to be a registered architect was denied and only accepted after legislative changes forced acceptance.  In 1922 she took classes in Urban Planning at the University of Toronto and then studied at Columbia University, New York City, U.S.A. In 1925 she was accepted into the Alberta Association of Architects becoming the 1st Canadian woman to be a registered architect. She survived the depression years with her own resourceful talents by selling handmade gloves and handmade greeting cards.  In 1936 she relocated to Victoria, British Columbia.  In 1942 she won 1st prize for her weaving at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. After World War ll she opened her own architectural firm. In 1953 she joined the Architectural Institute of British Columbia and worked on city planning until to 1958.  She would go on to become a prolific and valued member of her chosen profession. She retired in 1963.

Ruta Lee. 
née Kilmonis. Born May 30,1936, Montreal, Quebec. In 1948 she moved to Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. where she studied at Hollywood High School and Los Angeles City College and the University of California. Her 1st TV appearance was as a guest on the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and then the Roy Rogers Show.  This actress began her career in films in 1954 in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.  She has mainly appeared in lesser-known films such as Pterodactyl Women from Beverly Hills. She also continued to appear in numerous TV shows and was popular on TV western and TV detective shows. She made regular appearances on Game shows such as Hollywood Squares. In 1974 she hosted the show High Rollers for two years. In 1976 she married Webster B. 'Webb' Lowe Jr., a restaurant executive.  During the 1980's she did voice for cartoon shows such as the Flintstones and the Smurfs. Turning to the live stage she performed extensively in such musicals as Peter Pan. In the 1990's she once again did numerous guest appearances on TV .In 1995 a Golden Palm Star was placed for her on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.  In 2002 she earned a Golden Boot Award for her work on western TV shows. In 2006 she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In the 2000's she once again took to stage work. On August 24 she was inducted into the National Lithuanian American Hall of Fame.

Sophie/Sophia Margaretta/Margaret Almon Hensley. 
née Almon. Born May 31, 1866, Bridgetown, Nova Scotia. Died February 10, 1946, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Sophia was educated at home and then travelled abroad to England and France for additional studies. This author and lecturer wrote of her interest in women’s issues and social tolerance.  She wrote periodical articles which appeared in The Week, The King's College Record, the Dominion Illustrated Monthly and The Current. Her 1st collection of poems appeared in April 1889 and was simply titled, Poems.  On April 25, 1889 she married a barrister, Hubert Arthur Hensley. and in 1890 the couple settled in New York City, U.S.A. The couple had three children. In 1895 she published her second volume of poems, A Woman's Love Letters. She lectured on literary topics, went on to write a novelette  and a musical play the was done in collaboration with her husband and three more collections of poems. .  She not only wrote under her own name but also used the pen name of Gordon Hart, J. Try Davies, and Almon Hensley. As Almond Hensley she served as secretary for the New York State Assembly of Mothers and was co-founder and vice-president of the New York City Mother's Club and founding president of the Society for the Study of Life,. She was a member of the New York Press Club and served as associate editor of the magazine; Health; a Home Magazine Dedicated to Physical Culture and Hygiene. She maintained a summer home in Nova Scotia and in 1937 relocated to the channel island of Jersey, where she was forced to leave during the 1940 invasion by the Nazis. She then returned home to Windsor, Nova Scotia.